


Cats and Dogs

by aeducans



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: Cats, Fluff, M/M, Prompt Fill, Ser Nibbles is Anders' new cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 10:28:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16931568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeducans/pseuds/aeducans
Summary: Jonah is a dog person on every possible level so his relationship with Anders' cat is complicated.For DADWC on tumblr, with the prompt, "Try Harder."





	Cats and Dogs

“Is there some kind of waiver? I feel like I ought to sign a waiver.”

“Setting aside your lack of faith in my ability to heal you if something does go wrong, what makes you think you’ll need a waiver?”

Jonah warily eyed the eight pound grey murder machine making lazy biscuits on Anders’ cot. “The first time I spent the night here he pissed on my boots and you don’t think I should be concerned now that there will be claws involved?”

“He did that because your boots smell like Leon, and speaking of Leon, he has a name.” Anders snapped his fingers to get the cat’s attention and the gentle way he smiled when the creature turned and rubbed his face against them was enough to remind Jonah why he was doing this. It was important to Anders, so it was important to him.

“All right, but if Nibbles–” Anders cleared his throat meaningfully and Jonah sighed. Of all the… “If _Ser_ Nibbles here slits my throat I want you to look after Leon at least as well as you look after him. He really does love you, you know.”

Anders snorted. “Leon’s a dog, they love everyone. Now, sit down, carefully. You’re bigger than me and you’re liable to startle him.”

Jonah lowered himself to the other end of the cot, dutifully watching for any signs of nervousness from the cat, but Ser Nibbles seemed thoroughly engrossed in watching the feathers on Anders’ shoulders move. “Leon is not just a dog, he is a sophisticated war hound. He’s very intelligent.”

“Love, what did your dog do when you brought home the boots Ser Nibbles ruined?” Anders’ tone was light, playfully conversational, but Jonah just sighed again. He knew a lost battle when he saw one.

“He ate them but that’s not–”

“Not a sign of deep sophistication, that’s for sure. Now, just lean down a little and cluck your tongue to get him to come over.” Anders turned the cat around so he was facing Jonah then folded his hands in his lap, a model audience for what Jonah was sure was going to be one of his greatest defeats. Even so, he clucked his tongue and even snapped his fingers, since that had worked so well for Anders.

It worked for him as well, with Ser Nibbles trotting over to sniff at his fingers. They’d gotten this far before, and as before Jonah was able to give the cat a little scratch under the chin and around to his cheek. That wasn’t so bad; in his experience Ser Nibbles wasn’t prone to biting (despite his name) which meant the head and face were fair game. It was everything past the cat’s shoulders that complicated things.

“All right, now lean down a bit more. It shouldn’t take much, he likes to climb, but you have to relax or he’ll tense up too and what do tense cats do?”

“They score your flesh with their vicious toe razors is what.” Jonah curled down further still and closed his eyes, waiting for a fast, pointy death to come for him. He felt the weight of the cot shift as Anders stood and moved around behind him, presumably so he could be in the cat’s line of sight.

“They scwatch because they feew scawed, yes they do, don’t you, Ser Nibbwes?” It was a good thing Anders couldn’t see his face right now because for all that he didn’t understand the man’s relationship with the cats around the clinic, it still never failed to charm him when he slipped into baby talk with them. “Now, come on, don’t let the big bad man scare you, he doesn’t mean to be loud and smell of dogs.”

“I beg your pardon, I certainly do mean to smell of–” His protest was cut off when, as expected, a handful of pinpricks dug into his shoulder, but only for a moment. The move to lift a hand to support the cat was instinctive, if only to keep him from sliding backwards and doing more damage, but as soon as Jonah’s hand came up under the cat’s back end, the claws retracted. After another moment, he felt the warm little body on his shoulder start to relax.

“There. Now, sit up straight and if you feel him getting wiggly, just squish his bottom against your shoulder. Don’t push him off, just hold him a little tighter.” Jonah opened his eyes when he felt Anders’ hand on top of his, showing him how to apply pressure. “Cats like to be held securely so as long as you don’t crush him, pressing is all right.”

He sat up straighter, waiting to feel the cat dig in as preparation to launch off him, but to Jonah’s surprise, Ser Nibbles instead started to purr. Not vigorously, just a gentle vibration, so soft he might not even have noticed if the cat weren’t so close to his ear, but it was gratifying nonetheless. “You’re petting him back there, aren’t you?”

“Yes but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s sitting comfortably on your shoulder. That’s all your doing, love. I’m petting him because I want to, not because I think he needs it.” Anders’ hand left Jonah’s, moving up to stroke the top of his head. “Or are you jealous? I can pet you both.”

“I’m not jealous of a cat.” He certainly didn’t mind the attention, though. It felt like fair compensation for risking his life this way. “I don’t understand how you figured all this out. Dogs are easy, you feed them, scratch behind their ears once, and they’re yours for life. Cats are like an entire different language.”

“Not everything in the world can be achieved through brute force and food, you know. Some things take more subtlety. Besides,” Anders continued, his hand on Jonah’s hair moving more slowly as his voice turned thoughtful, “the only dogs in the tower were the occasional Mabari. They didn’t come often but if for some reason they wanted to make an extra show of force or literally sic the hounds on someone if they escaped, then Mabari were what they went with. Cats came and went from the tower because they wanted to. It was nice, if infrequent. They were like little extra roommates instead of extra jailers. So yes, I spent more time getting to know how to interact with them. We didn’t all grow up thinking of dogs as our best friends, you know.”

Jonah sat quietly even after Anders finished speaking. What was he supposed to say to that? There was nothing he could say.

Anders picked up on it too, tugging a little on the part of Jonah’s hair he kept tied back. “Ah, I brought the mood down, didn’t I? I didn’t mean to make you feel bad about Leon, I know he’s very dear to you and I’m sure your family made sure he doesn’t have a taste for mage blood. That said, did you notice, while you were listening to me, that you made a new friend?”

Jonah started to turn his head, stopping when Anders tugged on his hair again. The cat was still purring, the tip of his tail tapping gently against Jonah’s collarbone. “Is he asleep?”

Anders laughed. “No, that might be something for another day but you’re doing very well so far. Ser Nibbles may be more complicated than a dog but it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you’re willing to try a little harder.” Jonah dug his fingers into the fur at the base of the cat’s tail and watched from the corner of his eye as Anders leaned down to kiss his cheek.

“I don’t mind complicated when it’s worth it,” he murmured, tilting his head to bump against Anders’ jaw when he started to move away again. A very feline gesture, or at least he thought so. If the way Anders threaded his fingers into his hair again was any indication, the local cat expert agreed. 

“And is he worth it?”

“Oh, yes. He’s worth it.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [tumblr](http://sulevinblade.tumblr.com)!


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